How to make business contacts
Have you ever come to a conference, festival or other major event, but you stand in the corner and just watch the guests, hoping that someone will come? Then you clearly need some practical advice on how to make business contacts! Being a good conversationalist is a skill, which means it can be mastered.
Do you know one of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to learn something new? They are trying to do it alone. Any successful person relied on someone else's experience and advice. Nevertheless, people remain alone, trying to achieve something relying only on themselves. The reason is that many simply do not know how to do it.
To achieve something faster and not step on someone else's rake, get to know the experts. Warning: this is not for the lazy, but it will give you a lot. For example, if each student, choosing a further specialty, could change his decisions for the better, simply by talking with 10 specialists. It happens that we want to work in some area, but do not know about the pitfalls. You can learn about them in advance only if you talk to professionals who already have some experience.
Here are some tips that will tell you how to make useful connections, business acquaintances.
Find out who you want to learn from
Make a list of people you admire and would like to learn from. Try to be realistic and make a list of those who can help you but are available. You should not email Bill Gates if you want to learn the basics of programming. Should be about 20 people. Study a topic that interests you, think about what is important to ask others.
Write a script
The ideal conversation starter depends on the situation and where you are. For some reason, we often say hackneyed phrases like “what do you do?". They help start a conversation, but it usually makes people uncomfortable. Try to ask about what brought this person to the event, introduce yourself, ask about how you met the owner of the house if you are visiting. Starting a conversation should be easy!
It seems awkward and lazy to do it all the time, but social skills are essential for a successful life. Smile and talk in front of a mirror, record videos of yourself talking, meet and interact with people more often. These simple steps will help you improve your speech, diction, facial expressions.
Learn from others
Have you ever tried to bake a cake from a recipe and it didn't work out? And then you watched a tutorial video on YouTube and the cake was amazing? Learning from socially active people is almost the same. You may be seeing them for the first and last time, but you can learn from this encounter. Take a cue from a colleague who has a joke for every occasion, or from your friend who tells interesting everyday stories.
Master your body language
Body language greatly affects how well we are able to make useful connections and business acquaintances from the first conversation. Smile more than usual sincerely, be more energetic, gesticulate, and make eye contact more often. Of course, all this should be in moderation.
Invite others for coffee
If you want to get something, first you have to give something: first of all, your time. Find out as much as you can about the person you are planning to invite: what they like to do, what places they go to, what they do, etc. Come to the meeting like a journalist going to an interview: prepare non-standard, clear questions.